After spending one year out of the NFL, former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is looking to return to coaching. According to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Carroll recently expressed interest in the Chicago Bears’ head coaching vacancy.
Apparently, Carroll sees the Bears as an attractive project and would welcome the opportunity to work with the team’s talented quarterback Caleb Wiliams.
The Bears entered the 2024 season with big expectations after retooling their roster and drafting Williams, the Heisman Trophy winner in 2022, with the first overall pick. They started the season 4-2 before unraveling and losing six straight, resulting in head coach Matt Eberflus’ dismissal after Week 13.
Chicago named offensive coordinator Thomas Brown as interim head coach, and he is expected to get a look for the full-time job due to forming a great relationship with Williams. Among outside candidates, Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is considered to have a strong chance of landing the job.
Pete Carroll spent 14 years with the Seahawks, leading the franchise to a Super Bowl XLVIII win and a Super Bowl XLIX appearance. Overall, Carroll compiled a 137-89 record with Seattle and made the playoffs 10 times. He is only the third coach, besides Barry Switzer and Jimmy Johnson, to win both the Super Bowl and the national title, achieving the latter with USC in 2003 and 2004.
Carroll went 9-8 in his last season as the head coach of the Seahawks before leaving the position due to the franchise’s desire for change. He said at the time that he wasn’t interested in returning to coaching but obviously changed his mind and will now throw his hat into the next hiring cycle. Besides the Bears, the New York Jets, where Carroll was a head coach in 1994, and the New Orleans Saints are also looking for a new head coach, with several more openings being expected in the coming weeks.
